74 SALMON FISHING 



when a fly or bait is thrown to them. They 

 will hardly allow anything to pass without an 

 examination, and will often follow with their 

 noses quite close to the object. We have on 

 many occasions posted a ghillie on a bridge, 

 to report what took place with every change of 

 fly, and the general conclusion was, that the fish 

 more often took the fly when it had passed over, 

 and they turned to it, than when crossing in 

 front of them, in which position they generally 

 came to meet it, and dropped back after they 

 had satisfied themselves. In a fine water, fish 

 can often be tempted to seize a thing passing 

 quickly over them, which they would not if 

 it were going slowly, and they had time to 

 examine it. 



A little novelty in the fly or method of 

 showing it, will often do wonders, and produce 

 results which ordinary methods will not. 



A letter written some time ago to a friend, 

 who complained that he could rise, but could 

 not hook fish with small bright flies, bears so 

 directly on the subject, that an extract will 

 serve a useful purpose, and there need be no 

 further excuse for its introduction. 



" It is a big subject this fly fishing in low 

 water, and one has so many experiences which 

 are conflicting, that to draw deductions of any 

 kind is risky. It's like most other things in this ; 



